Padma Lakshmi: Comedienne? Seriously?

Apparently failing to seal a deal with either a gnarled tree stump or a butter statue from the Minnesota State Fair, NBC took one more step down the talent ladder, selecting Top Chef spokesmodel Padma Lakshmi as the star of a new food-based sitcom. The show is tentatively titled Holy Crap, How Can We Possibly Make This Work as a Comedy?

Sources suggest that the program will revolve around a hapless production crew and baffled professional actors, who have to jointly confront the titanic challenge of creating a sitcom starring a woman with no discernible affect, acting ability, or sense of humor.

No, seriously, NBC has picked up a Padma Lakshmi sitcom, and they might be calling it Single Serving. You mull the implications.

As Variety points out, tackling food themes in scripted television hasn’t gone all that well in the past. The Emeril show was a dud in 2001, and Kitchen Confidential, based on Anthony Bourdain’s memoir, didn’t last long either.